"He put us on his back" - Darvin Ham thanks D'Angelo Russell again as he willed the Lakers comeback in Game 4
It was a rowdy Monday night at the Crypto.com Arena when D'Angelo Russell willed the LA Lakers back into Game 4. All the momentum was shifting towards the Memphis Grizzlies in the 4th quarter. Desmond Bane hit a big three-point shot with only 5:13 left on the clock. Bane's three-pointer extended the Grizzlies' lead to seven at that point.
While the gap in scoring didn't seem like much, what concerned the Lakers the most was their loss of momentum. D'Angelo Russell appeared to be having another lackluster shooting performance, however, the ice in his veins suddenly came alive when it mattered the most. "D-Lo" regained all of LA's momentum after hitting three big shots from beyond the arc.
Coach Darvin Ham was appreciative of his star guard for coming up big in crunch time. He acknowledged that Russell put the team on his back during the 4th quarter comeback. Ham also pointed out that LA could've lost the game if D'Angelo didn't play the way he did in Game 4.
Ham said:
“I’ve got to give a huge shoutout, again, to D’Angelo Russell,” Darvin Ham said. “I mean, we were flailing, at best, offensively and he was able to catch fire and, man. He put us on his back offensively and put us back in position to have a chance to close the gap, eclipse it and walk away with the win. If D’Lo doesn’t play the way he played, we don’t win this game.”
Can the Lakers knock the Grizzlies out of the playoffs in Game 5?
The LA Lakers are on the verge of pulling off one of the biggest upsets in playoff history. LA currently lead their series against the Memphis Grizzlies 3-1 and have a chance to seal the deal in Game 5.
While D'Angelo Russell is a huge reason why the "Lakeshow" won in Game 4, we also have to give credit to LeBron James, who put up a huge double-double outing with 22 points and 20 rebounds on the night.
After witnessing the first four games of the Lakers vs Grizzlies series, it's clear that the purple and gold franchise has the advantage in the matchup. Memphis is known for attacking the paint, which didn't work well against LA, arguably the best defensive team in the NBA today. As a result, the Grizzlies have struggled to secure wins for themselves.
Coming into Game 5, the Lakers now have all the momentum and could end the series on Wednesday. If they continue to exert the same amount of defensive pressure inside the paint, then the Grizzlies could struggle to make a comeback in the series.